tag:computers.tutsplus.com,2005:/categories/brandingEnvato Tuts+ Computer Skills - Branding2019-01-07T12:55:31Ztag:computers.tutsplus.com,2005:PostPresenter/cms-3247820 Creative Landscape Company Logo Design Ideas for 2019<p>If you’re starting up your own landscape or gardening business, you’re probably looking for some great landscaping logo design ideas. Here are 20 cool and creative logos to get you started. </p><h2><b>Placeit’s Logo Maker</b></h2><p>Most of the landscape company logos used here are taken from the <a href="https://placeit.net/logo-maker" rel="external" target="_blank">Logo Maker at Placeit</a>, a simple and low-stress tool that'll help you create your very own logos. The Placeit Logo Maker is free and easy to use, though you’ll pay a small fee to download your high-quality logo creations.</p><figure class="post_image"><a href="https://placeit.net/online-logo-maker?f_tags=Landscaping" rel="external" target="_blank"><img alt="Placeits Logo Maker" data-src="https://cms-assets.tutsplus.com/uploads/users/1631/posts/32478/image/landscaping%20names%20and%20logos%201%20copy.jpg"></a><figcaption><a href="https://placeit.net/online-logo-maker?f_tags=Landscaping" target="_self">Placeit’s Logo Maker</a></figcaption></figure><h2><b>Components of the Best Landscape Logos</b></h2><p>Before I share my list of 20 terrific landscaping logo designs, let's get clear about exactly what a logo is and what are some of the key qualities of good landscape logo design. </p><p>A logo is essentially a symbol that helps identify and promote a business, product, organisation, etc. Logos usually take the form of an abstract or illustrative symbol and/or text using specific colours. </p><p>Most companies that use an abstract or illustrative symbol tend to combine their chosen symbol with text that makes their logo much easier to remember, especially in the early days before the symbol that they use becomes recognisable on its own. With just three elements—symbol, text and colour—you might think a logo is easy to create, but there are a few pitfalls that often trip up the novice logo designer. To help you avoid them, here are a few key characteristics every logo should have. Take a look and make sure your landscaping logo designs incorporate them.</p><h3>1. <b>Simplicity</b>
</h3><p> A simple logo is easy to recognise and remember, as well as easy to use in a variety of media. Here's an example of a simple logo:</p><figure class="post_image"><a href="https://placeit.net/c/logos/stages/creative-landscaping-business-logo-maker-1424?textText_T1=Creative%20Landscaping%20&amp;checkboxText_T2=false&amp;graphicFolder_Icon=5&amp;graphicFolder_Line=-1" rel="external" target="_blank"><img alt="Creative Landscaping Business Logo Maker" data-src="https://cms-assets.tutsplus.com/uploads/users/1631/posts/32478/image/landscape%20company%20logos%201%20copy.jpg"></a><figcaption><a href="https://placeit.net/c/logos/stages/creative-landscaping-business-logo-maker-1424?textText_T1=Creative%20Landscaping%20&amp;checkboxText_T2=false&amp;graphicFolder_Icon=5&amp;graphicFolder_Line=-1" target="_self">Creative Landscaping Business Logo Maker </a></figcaption></figure><h2>2. <b>Memorability</b>
</h2><p>Your landscape logo design should capture your target audience’s attention and leave a positive and lasting impression. For this reason, the best landscape logos must be memorable. This is a memorable landscape logo design:<br></p><figure class="post_image"><a href="https://placeit.net/c/logos/stages/landscaping-logo-maker-1435?graphicFolder_Main%20Color=44&amp;textText_T1=Modern&amp;textText_T2=LanSCAPING&amp;checkboxText_T3=false" rel="external" target="_blank"><img alt="Landscaping Logo Template" data-src="https://cms-assets.tutsplus.com/uploads/users/1631/posts/32478/image/landscape%20company%20logos%205%20copy.jpg"></a><figcaption><a href="https://placeit.net/c/logos/stages/landscaping-logo-maker-1435?graphicFolder_Main%20Color=44&amp;textText_T1=Modern&amp;textText_T2=LanSCAPING&amp;checkboxText_T3=false" target="_self">Landscaping Logo Template</a> <br></figcaption></figure><h3>3. <b>Relevance</b><br>
</h3><p>A landscape company logo design should reflect the image you want your company to convey. Landscape logos are relevant when they use colours, fonts and graphics that give viewers a clear idea of exactly what the business is all about. Here's a relevant landscaping services logo:<br></p><figure class="post_image"><a href="https://placeit.net/c/logos/stages/gardening-services-logo-maker-with-a-tree-image-1423e" rel="external" target="_blank"><img alt="Gardening Services Logo Maker with a Tree Image" data-src="https://cms-assets.tutsplus.com/uploads/users/1631/posts/32478/image/Landscape%20company%20logos_2%20copy.jpg"></a><figcaption><a href="https://placeit.net/c/logos/stages/gardening-services-logo-maker-with-a-tree-image-1423e" target="_self">Gardening Services Logo Maker with a Tree Image </a><br></figcaption></figure><h3>4. <b>Versatility </b><br>
</h3><p>Landscape company logos need to be versatile so that whether you scale them up and down, use them in print or on the web, they still look great. This landscape company logo design is quite versatile:</p><figure class="post_image"><a href="https://placeit.net/c/logos/stages/zen-landscaping-logo-template-1435a" rel="external" target="_blank"><img alt="Zen Landscaping Logo Template" data-src="https://cms-assets.tutsplus.com/uploads/users/1631/posts/32478/image/landscape%20company%20logos%204%20copy.jpg"></a><figcaption><a href="https://placeit.net/c/logos/stages/zen-landscaping-logo-template-1435a" target="_self">Zen Landscaping Logo Template</a> <br></figcaption></figure><h3>5. <b>Timelessness</b><br>
</h3><p>Your landscaping services logo should avoid being so trendy that it looks dated 10 or 50 years from the day you create it. This landscape logo design would work well during any time period:</p><figure class="post_image"><a href="https://placeit.net/c/logos/stages/summer-landscaping-company-logo-maker-1424c?graphicFolder_Icon=19" rel="external" target="_blank"><img alt="Summer Landscaping Company Logo Maker" data-src="https://cms-assets.tutsplus.com/uploads/users/1631/posts/32478/image/landscape%20company%20logos%203%20copy.jpg"></a><figcaption><a href="https://placeit.net/c/logos/stages/summer-landscaping-company-logo-maker-1424c?graphicFolder_Icon=19" target="_self">Summer Landscaping Company Logo Maker </a><br></figcaption></figure><p>Now that you have a clear idea of the qualities your landscaping logo designs should have, let’s look at some of the best landscaping logo examples.</p><h2><b>15 Creative Landscape Company Logo Designs</b></h2><p>Whether you’re looking for landscape logo ideas, gardening logo templates, or the best lawn care and landscaping logos for your new business, these <a href="https://placeit.net/online-logo-maker?f_tags=Landscaping">15 terrific landscape logos</a> will get you excited about creating your own landscaping logo designs:</p><h3>1. <a href="https://placeit.net/c/logos/stages/multicolor-logo-template-for-landscaping-services-1423c">Multicolor Template for Landscaping Services Logo</a><br>
</h3><figure class="post_image"><a href="https://placeit.net/c/logos/stages/multicolor-logo-template-for-landscaping-services-1423c" rel="external" target="_blank"><img alt="Multicolor Template for Landscaping Services Logo" data-src="https://cms-assets.tutsplus.com/uploads/users/1631/posts/32478/image/C_Landscape%20company%20logos.jpg"></a><figcaption><a href="https://placeit.net/c/logos/stages/multicolor-logo-template-for-landscaping-services-1423c" target="_self">Multicolor Template for Landscaping Services Logo</a></figcaption></figure><p>The <a href="https://placeit.net/c/logos/stages/multicolor-logo-template-for-landscaping-services-1423c">Multicolor Template for Landscaping Services Logo</a> is a simple and stylish logo that communicates expertise and professionalism. Using the Placeit Logo Maker, you can customise the logo template to reflect your particular services. <b></b><i></i><u></u><sup></sup><br></p><h3>2. <a href="https://placeit.net/c/logos/stages/logo-design-template-with-bush-graphics-1425c">Logo Design Template with Bush Graphics</a><br>
</h3><figure class="post_image"><a href="https://placeit.net/c/logos/stages/logo-design-template-with-bush-graphics-1425c" rel="external" target="_blank"><img alt="Logo Design Template with Bush Graphics" data-src="https://cms-assets.tutsplus.com/uploads/users/1631/posts/32478/image/Logo%20Design%20Template%20with%20Bush%20Graphics%20copy1.jpg"></a><figcaption><a href="https://placeit.net/c/logos/stages/logo-design-template-with-bush-graphics-1425c" target="_self">Logo Design Template with Bush Graphics</a></figcaption></figure><p>Let your customers know you specialise in shrubbery with <a href="https://placeit.net/c/logos/stages/logo-design-template-with-bush-graphics-1425c">Logo Design Template with Bush Graphics</a>. The template offers a number of great graphics of various kinds of shrubbery that you can colourise as needed. <b></b><i></i><u></u><sup></sup><br></p><h3>3. <a href="https://placeit.net/c/logos/stages/online-logo-maker-for-a-flower-boutique-1271b?textText_T1=green&amp;colorText_T1=#38761d&amp;textText_T2=care&amp;colorText_T2=%2338761d&amp;textText_T3=landscaping&amp;colorFolder_Graphic=%2338761d&amp;colorSolidColor_Color=%23eeeeee&amp;graphicFolder_Graphic=7&amp;colorText_T3=%23444444">Landscape Company Logos Generator</a><br>
</h3><figure class="post_image"><a href="https://placeit.net/c/logos/stages/online-logo-maker-for-a-flower-boutique-1271b?textText_T1=green&amp;colorText_T1=#38761d&amp;textText_T2=care&amp;colorText_T2=%2338761d&amp;textText_T3=landscaping&amp;colorFolder_Graphic=%2338761d&amp;colorSolidColor_Color=%23eeeeee&amp;graphicFolder_Graphic=7&amp;colorText_T3=%23444444" rel="external" target="_blank"><img alt="Landscape Company Logos Generator" data-src="https://cms-assets.tutsplus.com/uploads/users/1631/posts/32478/image/Landscape%20Company%20Logos%20Generator%20copy.jpg"></a><figcaption><a href="https://placeit.net/c/logos/stages/online-logo-maker-for-a-flower-boutique-1271b?textText_T1=green&amp;colorText_T1=#38761d&amp;textText_T2=care&amp;colorText_T2=%2338761d&amp;textText_T3=landscaping&amp;colorFolder_Graphic=%2338761d&amp;colorSolidColor_Color=%23eeeeee&amp;graphicFolder_Graphic=7&amp;colorText_T3=%23444444" target="_self">Landscape Company Logos Generator</a></figcaption></figure><p><a href="https://placeit.net/c/logos/stages/online-logo-maker-for-a-flower-boutique-1271b?textText_T1=green&amp;colorText_T1=#38761d&amp;textText_T2=care&amp;colorText_T2=%2338761d&amp;textText_T3=landscaping&amp;colorFolder_Graphic=%2338761d&amp;colorSolidColor_Color=%23eeeeee&amp;graphicFolder_Graphic=7&amp;colorText_T3=%23444444">Landscape Company Logos Generator</a> is perfect for those looking for gardening logo templates that offer a bit of the delicate touch. There are a huge range of gorgeous graphics to choose from, so whether you specialise in ferns, lilies of the valley or another bedding plant, you’ll likely find a graphic to suit your needs. <b></b><i></i><u></u><sup></sup><br></p><h3>4. <a href="https://placeit.net/c/logos/stages/hedge-care-logo-design-template-1425d?graphicFolder_Graphic=46">Hedge Care Logo Design Template</a><br>
</h3><figure class="post_image"><a href="https://placeit.net/c/logos/stages/hedge-care-logo-design-template-1425d?graphicFolder_Graphic=46" rel="external" target="_blank"><img alt="Hedge Care Logo Design Template" data-src="https://cms-assets.tutsplus.com/uploads/users/1631/posts/32478/image/B_Landscape%20company%20logos.jpg"></a><figcaption><a href="https://placeit.net/c/logos/stages/hedge-care-logo-design-template-1425d?graphicFolder_Graphic=46" target="_self">Hedge Care Logo Design Template</a></figcaption></figure><p>For other landscaping logo design ideas focusing specifically on shrubbery, check out the <a href="https://placeit.net/c/logos/stages/hedge-care-logo-design-template-1425d?graphicFolder_Graphic=46">Hedge Care Logo Design Template</a>. Stand out from the pack by trying a non-traditional colour for your logo background, like coral featured here.<br></p><h3>5. <a href="https://placeit.net/c/logos/stages/landscaping-services-company-logo-maker-1426b">Landscaping Services Company Logo Maker</a><br>
</h3><figure class="post_image"><a href="https://placeit.net/c/logos/stages/landscaping-services-company-logo-maker-1426b" rel="external" target="_blank"><img alt="Landscaping Services Company Logo Maker" data-src="https://cms-assets.tutsplus.com/uploads/users/1631/posts/32478/image/Landscaping%20Services%20Company%20Logo%20Maker%20copy.jpg"></a><figcaption><a href="https://placeit.net/c/logos/stages/landscaping-services-company-logo-maker-1426b" target="_self">Landscaping Services Company Logo Maker</a></figcaption></figure><p>If you’re looking for landscaping logo examples with a vintage or distressed flair, <a href="https://placeit.net/c/logos/stages/landscaping-services-company-logo-maker-1426b">Landscaping Services Company Logo Maker</a> is a great choice. The template offers loads of customisation options to ensure that you get the perfect look for your brand.<b></b><i></i><u></u><sup></sup><br></p><h3>6. <a href="https://placeit.net/c/logos/stages/gardener-logo-maker-with-lawn-mower-images-1166e">Landscape Gardening Logo Maker</a><br>
</h3><figure class="post_image"><a href="https://placeit.net/c/logos/stages/gardener-logo-maker-with-lawn-mower-images-1166e" rel="external" target="_blank"><img alt="Landscape Gardening Logo Maker" data-src="https://cms-assets.tutsplus.com/uploads/users/1631/posts/32478/image/Gardener%20Logo%20Maker%20with%20Lawn%20Mower%20Images%20copy.jpg"></a> <figcaption><a href="https://placeit.net/c/logos/stages/gardener-logo-maker-with-lawn-mower-images-1166e" target="_self">Landscape Gardening Logo Maker</a></figcaption></figure><p>The <a href="https://placeit.net/c/logos/stages/gardener-logo-maker-with-lawn-mower-images-1166e">Landscape Gardening Logo Maker</a> is one of the most versatile of the landscape company logos featured here. The template offers an incredibly wide range of graphic icons, all of which can be coloured to suit your brand needs. <b></b><i></i><u></u><sup></sup><br></p><h3>7. <a href="https://placeit.net/c/logos/stages/lawn-and-landscape-service-logo-maker-1425e">Lawn and Landscape Service Logo Maker</a><br>
</h3><figure class="post_image"><a href="https://placeit.net/c/logos/stages/lawn-and-landscape-service-logo-maker-1425e" target="_self"><img alt="Lawn and Landscape Service Logo Maker" data-src="https://cms-assets.tutsplus.com/uploads/users/1631/posts/32478/image/Lawn%20and%20Landscape%20Service%20Logo%20Maker%20copy.jpg"></a><figcaption><a href="https://placeit.net/c/logos/stages/lawn-and-landscape-service-logo-maker-1425e" target="_self">Lawn and Landscape Service Logo Maker</a></figcaption></figure><p>For those looking for lawn care and landscaping logos there's the <a href="https://placeit.net/c/logos/stages/lawn-and-landscape-service-logo-maker-1425e">Lawn and Landscape Service Logo Maker</a>. You can swap out the shovel and fork graphic for any of the 51 graphics on offer, as well as change background colour and font type and colour. <b></b><i></i><u></u><sup></sup><br></p><h3>8. <a href="https://placeit.net/c/logos/stages/logo-maker-for-a-landscaping-business-with-succulent-graphic-1435c">Logo Maker for a Landscaping Business with Succulent Graphic</a><br>
</h3><figure class="post_image"><a href="https://placeit.net/c/logos/stages/logo-maker-for-a-landscaping-business-with-succulent-graphic-1435c" target="_self"><img alt="Logo Maker for a Landscaping Business with Succulent Graphic" data-src="https://cms-assets.tutsplus.com/uploads/users/1631/posts/32478/image/Logo%20Maker%20for%20a%20Landscaping%20Business%20with%20Succulent%20Graphic%20copy.jpg"></a><figcaption><a href="https://placeit.net/c/logos/stages/logo-maker-for-a-landscaping-business-with-succulent-graphic-1435c" target="_self">Logo Maker for a Landscaping Business with Succulent Graphic</a></figcaption></figure><p>For those who specialise in succulents, there's the playful <a href="https://placeit.net/c/logos/stages/logo-maker-for-a-landscaping-business-with-succulent-graphic-1435c">Logo Maker for a Landscaping Business with Succulent Graphic</a>.<b></b><i></i><u></u><sup></sup><br></p><h3>9. <a href="https://placeit.net/c/logos/stages/logo-maker-for-a-landscaping-business-with-succulent-graphic-1435c?graphicFolder_Main%20Color=11&amp;textText_T1=Cacti">Logo Maker for a Landscaping Business with Cacti Graphic</a><br>
</h3><figure class="post_image"><a href="https://placeit.net/c/logos/stages/logo-maker-for-a-landscaping-business-with-succulent-graphic-1435c?graphicFolder_Main%20Color=11&amp;textText_T1=Cacti" target="_self"><img alt="Logo Maker for a Landscaping Business with Cacti Graphic" data-src="https://cms-assets.tutsplus.com/uploads/users/1631/posts/32478/image/Cacti%20copy.jpg"></a><figcaption><a href="https://placeit.net/c/logos/stages/logo-maker-for-a-landscaping-business-with-succulent-graphic-1435c?graphicFolder_Main%20Color=11&amp;textText_T1=Cacti" target="_self">Logo Maker for a Landscaping Business with Cacti Graphic</a></figcaption></figure><p>Just to show you how versatile these landscaping logo examples are, I’ve included the <a href="https://placeit.net/c/logos/stages/logo-maker-for-a-landscaping-business-with-succulent-graphic-1435c?graphicFolder_Main%20Color=11&amp;textText_T1=Cacti">Logo Maker for a Landscaping Business with Cacti Graphic</a>. If your business focuses on cacti instead of succulents, you can swap in the cacti graphic to replace the succulent graphic and voila, you’ve got the right logo for your business. <b></b><i></i><u></u><sup></sup><br></p><h3>10. <a href="https://placeit.net/c/logos/stages/landscaping-logo-creator-with-a-tree-icon-1423">Landscaping Logo Maker With a Tree Icon</a><br>
</h3><figure class="post_image"><a href="https://placeit.net/c/logos/stages/landscaping-logo-creator-with-a-tree-icon-1423" target="_self"><img alt="Landscaping Logo Maker with a Tree Icon" data-src="https://cms-assets.tutsplus.com/uploads/users/1631/posts/32478/image/Landscaping%20Logo%20Maker%20with%20a%20Tree%20Icon%20copy.jpg"></a><figcaption><a href="https://placeit.net/c/logos/stages/landscaping-logo-creator-with-a-tree-icon-1423" target="_self">Landscaping Logo Maker with a Tree Icon</a></figcaption></figure><p><a href="https://placeit.net/c/logos/stages/landscaping-logo-creator-with-a-tree-icon-1423">Landscaping Logo Maker with a Tree Icon</a> offers a number of landscape logo ideas for businesses that specialises in tree planting and maintenance. After you’ve selected your graphic from the 24 different tree graphics on offer, you can change the colour to correspond with your brand. <b></b><i></i><u></u><sup></sup><br></p><h3>11. <a href="https://placeit.net/c/logos/stages/creative-landscaping-business-logo-maker-1424">Creative Landscaping Business Logo Maker</a><br>
</h3><figure class="post_image"><a href="https://placeit.net/c/logos/stages/creative-landscaping-business-logo-maker-1424" target="_self"><img alt="Creative Landscaping Business Logo Maker" data-src="https://cms-assets.tutsplus.com/uploads/users/1631/posts/32478/image/Creative%20Landscaping%20Business%20Logo%20Maker%20copy.jpg"></a><figcaption><a href="https://placeit.net/c/logos/stages/creative-landscaping-business-logo-maker-1424" target="_self">Creative Landscaping Business Logo Maker</a></figcaption></figure><p>With its clean, modern and minimalist fonts and graphics, <a href="https://placeit.net/c/logos/stages/creative-landscaping-business-logo-maker-1424">Creative Landscaping Business Logo Maker</a> is a great logo for landscape businesses that want to catch the eye of a young, hip clientele.<b></b><i></i><u></u><sup></sup><br></p><h3>12. <a href="https://placeit.net/c/logos/stages/summer-landscaping-company-logo-maker-1424c">Summer Landscaping Company Logo Maker</a><br>
</h3><figure class="post_image"><a href="https://placeit.net/c/logos/stages/summer-landscaping-company-logo-maker-1424c" target="_self"><img alt="Summer Landscaping Company Logo Maker" data-src="https://cms-assets.tutsplus.com/uploads/users/1631/posts/32478/image/A_Landscape%20Company%20Logo%20Designs.jpg"></a><figcaption><a href="https://placeit.net/c/logos/stages/summer-landscaping-company-logo-maker-1424c" target="_self">Summer Landscaping Company Logo Maker</a><br></figcaption></figure><p>Let the <a href="https://placeit.net/c/logos/stages/summer-landscaping-company-logo-maker-1424c">Summer Landscaping Company Logo Maker</a> stimulate your imagination to create the perfect landscaping logo that'll have your customers queuing up as soon as the first breath of spring arrives. <b></b><i></i><u></u><sup></sup><br></p><h3>13. <a href="https://placeit.net/c/logos/stages/urban-farm-logo-maker-with-plant-images-1166c" target="_self">Urban Farm Logo Maker with Plant Images</a><br>
</h3><figure class="post_image"><a href="https://placeit.net/c/logos/stages/urban-farm-logo-maker-with-plant-images-1166c" target="_self"><img alt="Urban Farm Logo Maker with Plant Images" data-src="https://cms-assets.tutsplus.com/uploads/users/1631/posts/32478/image/Urban%20Farm%20Logo%20Maker%20with%20Plant%20Images%20copy.jpg"></a><figcaption><a href="https://placeit.net/c/logos/stages/urban-farm-logo-maker-with-plant-images-1166c" target="_self">Urban Farm Logo Maker with Plant Images </a></figcaption></figure><p>Is your client base the city dweller? Capture the urban vibe with this cool template. As usual you can choose from a great selection of fonts, graphics and colours to make the template truly yours. <b></b><i></i><u></u><sup></sup><br></p><h3>14. <a href="https://placeit.net/c/logos/stages/landscaping-logo-maker-with-vertical-layout-1435b">Landscaping Logo Maker with Vertical Layout</a><br>
</h3><figure class="post_image"><a href="https://placeit.net/c/logos/stages/landscaping-logo-maker-with-vertical-layout-1435b" target="_self"><img alt=" Landscaping Logo Maker with Vertical Layout" data-src="https://cms-assets.tutsplus.com/uploads/users/1631/posts/32478/image/Landscaping%20Logo%20Maker%20with%20Vertical%20Layout%20copy.jpg"></a><figcaption><a href="https://placeit.net/c/logos/stages/landscaping-logo-maker-with-vertical-layout-1435b" target="_self"> Landscaping Logo Maker with Vertical Layout</a></figcaption></figure><p>Use the Landscaping Logo Maker with Vertical Layout template as is, or as a starting place to build your own logo design. The template provides plenty of attractive graphics and of course you can adjust everything from background colour to fonts and font colour to suit your needs. <br></p><h3>
<img alt="">15. <a href="https://placeit.net/c/logos/stages/gardening-logo-maker-for-landscaping-1435e" target="_self">Landscape Gardening Logo Maker</a><br>
</h3><figure class="post_image"><a href="https://placeit.net/c/logos/stages/gardening-logo-maker-for-landscaping-1435e" target="_self"><img alt=" Landscape Gardening Logo Maker" data-src="https://cms-assets.tutsplus.com/uploads/users/1631/posts/32478/image/Landscape%20Gardening%20Logo%20Maker%20copy.jpg"></a><figcaption> <a href="https://placeit.net/c/logos/stages/gardening-logo-maker-for-landscaping-1435e" target="_self">Landscape Gardening Logo Make</a></figcaption></figure><p>Looking for a logo specifically for a business that specialises in pine trees? <a href="https://placeit.net/c/logos/stages/gardening-logo-maker-for-landscaping-1435e">Landscape Gardening Logo Maker</a> is a great choice with a good selection of pine tree related graphics to choose from. <i></i><u></u><sup></sup><br></p><h2>How to Create a Landscape Company Logo Quickly and Easily</h2><p>Placeit is a great resource for terrific landscape logo ideas and for creating great landscape logos at an affordable price. With the Placeit Logo Maker, you can make amazing landscape logos easily and painlessly. Let me show you how. </p><ol>
<li>Navigate to the <a href="https://placeit.net/online-logo-maker?f_tags=Landscaping">Online Logo Maker</a> at Placeit and sign up to the service for free:</li>
</ol><figure class="post_image"><a href="https://placeit.net/online-logo-maker?f_tags=Landscaping" target="_self"><img alt="Placeit Online Logo Maker" data-src="https://cms-assets.tutsplus.com/uploads/users/1631/posts/32478/image/landscaping%20names%20and%20logos%201%20copy.jpg"></a><figcaption><a href="https://placeit.net/online-logo-maker?f_tags=Landscaping" target="_self">Online Logo Maker</a><br></figcaption></figure><p>
2. Type your landscaping business name in the search bar:</p><figure class="post_image"><a href="https://placeit.net/online-logo-maker?f_tags=Landscaping" target="_self"><img alt="enter company name" data-src="https://cms-assets.tutsplus.com/uploads/users/1631/posts/32478/image/landscaping%20names%20and%20logos%202%20copy.jpg"></a><figcaption><a href="https://placeit.net/online-logo-maker?f_tags=Landscaping" target="_self"></a>Type the name of your landscaping company.<br></figcaption></figure><p>
3. Peruse the landscape logos and select the ones you like the most:</p><figure class="post_image"><img alt="choose a logo" data-src="https://cms-assets.tutsplus.com/uploads/users/1631/posts/32478/image/landscaping%20names%20and%20logos%203%20copy.jpg"><figcaption>Choose the logo design you like the most.</figcaption></figure><p>4. You can now customise your logo template as much or as little as you like. Starting with the controls on the left, you can add text and change the font style and colour to match your brand:<br></p>
<figure class="post_image"><a href="https://placeit.net/c/logos/stages/creative-landscaping-business-logo-maker-1424" target="_self"><img alt="Creative Landscaping Business Logo Maker" data-src="https://cms-assets.tutsplus.com/uploads/users/1631/posts/32478/image/landscaping%20names%20and%20logos%204%20copy.jpg"></a><figcaption><a href="https://placeit.net/c/logos/stages/creative-landscaping-business-logo-maker-1424" target="_self">Creative Landscaping Business Logo Maker </a><br></figcaption></figure><p>5. Moving to the controls on the right, you can change the graphics used in the design as well as their colour. You can also change the background colour and any accents used and resize or move around the graphics, text, and accents:<br></p><figure class="post_image"><a href="https://placeit.net/c/logos/stages/creative-landscaping-business-logo-maker-1424" target="_self"><img alt="Creative Landscaping Business Logo Maker" data-src="https://cms-assets.tutsplus.com/uploads/users/1631/posts/32478/image/landscaping%20names%20and%20logos%205%20copy.jpg"></a><figcaption><a href="https://placeit.net/c/logos/stages/creative-landscaping-business-logo-maker-1424" target="_self">Creative Landscaping Business Logo Maker</a></figcaption></figure><p>6. If you’re not happy with the changes you’ve made, you can hit the<strong> Reset Layout</strong> button to return the design to its original layout: <br></p><figure class="post_image"><a href="https://placeit.net/c/logos/stages/creative-landscaping-business-logo-maker-1424" target="_self"><img alt="Creative Landscaping Business Logo Maker" data-src="https://cms-assets.tutsplus.com/uploads/users/1631/posts/32478/image/landscaping%20names%20and%20logos%206.jpg"></a><figcaption><a href="https://placeit.net/c/logos/stages/creative-landscaping-business-logo-maker-1424" target="_self">Creative Landscaping Business Logo Maker </a><br></figcaption></figure>
<p>7. Scrolling down the page, you've got two additional options. You can see your selected colours applied to different logo styles for more landscaping logo designs inspiration, or if you get stuck and need even more logo ideas, you can try one of the presets offered:<br></p><figure class="post_image"><img alt="try a preset design" data-src="https://cms-assets.tutsplus.com/uploads/users/988/posts/32478/image/landscaping-names-and-logos-copy.jpg"><figcaption>You can also try a preset design.</figcaption></figure><p>8. Once you’re satisfied with your design, hit the <strong>Download</strong> button at the top of the screen and download your design for a small fee, or if you regularly need to create logos, flyers, posters, social media banners etc., then the monthly plan may be the best deal for you.</p><h2><b>5 More Landscape Company Logo Designs</b></h2><p>If you know your way around Adobe Photoshop and/or Illustrator, <a href="https://elements.envato.com/graphic-templates/logos/landscape">Envato Elements</a> is another great site for landscaping logo design ideas. </p><figure class="post_image"><a href="https://elements.envato.com/graphic-templates/logos/landscape" rel="external" target="_blank"><img alt="Envato Elements" data-src="https://cms-assets.tutsplus.com/uploads/users/1631/posts/32478/image/landscape%20logos1%20copy.jpg"></a><figcaption><a href="https://elements.envato.com/graphic-templates/logos/landscape" target="_self">Envato Elements</a><br></figcaption></figure><p>You can download as many as you want for one great price. Here are just five landscaping logo designs to get you started:<br></p><h3>1. <a href="https://elements.envato.com/nature-love-logo-ZBAACZ">Nature Love Logo</a><br>
</h3><figure class="post_image"><a href="https://elements.envato.com/nature-love-logo-ZBAACZ" rel="external" target="_blank"><img alt="Nature Love Logo" data-src="https://cms-assets.tutsplus.com/uploads/users/1631/posts/32478/image/Elements-image5.jpg"></a><figcaption><a href="https://elements.envato.com/nature-love-logo-ZBAACZ" target="_self">Nature Love Logo</a></figcaption></figure><p><a href="https://elements.envato.com/nature-love-logo-ZBAACZ">Nature Love Logo</a> is a sweet logo depicting hills and sky within a heart motif. It communicates a love of nature. The files are presented in eps and ai file formats and are fully editable.<b></b><i></i><u></u><sup></sup><br></p><h3>2. <a href="https://elements.envato.com/naturalia-logo-template-TR7MBT">Naturalia Logo Template</a><br>
</h3><figure class="post_image"><a href="https://elements.envato.com/naturalia-logo-template-TR7MBT" rel="external" target="_blank"><img alt="Naturalia Logo Template" data-src="https://cms-assets.tutsplus.com/uploads/users/1631/posts/32478/image/Elements-image3.jpg"></a><figcaption><a href="https://elements.envato.com/naturalia-logo-template-TR7MBT" target="_self">Naturalia Logo Template</a></figcaption></figure><p><a href="https://elements.envato.com/naturalia-logo-template-TR7MBT">Naturalia Logo Template</a> is another stylish design, featuring an enticing scene of hills, trees, sky, and sun. The vector files are downloadable in eps file format and are easy to customise. <b></b><i></i><u></u><sup></sup><br></p><h3>3. <a href="https://elements.envato.com/nature-care-logo-7F9F2W">Nature Care Logo</a><br>
</h3><figure class="post_image"><a href="https://elements.envato.com/nature-care-logo-7F9F2W" rel="external" target="_blank"><img alt="Nature Care Logo" data-src="https://cms-assets.tutsplus.com/uploads/users/1631/posts/32478/image/Elements-image4.jpg"></a><figcaption><a href="https://elements.envato.com/nature-care-logo-7F9F2W" target="_self">Nature Care Logo</a></figcaption></figure><p>Keeping with the theme of rolling hills and sunshine, <a href="https://elements.envato.com/nature-care-logo-7F9F2W">Nature Care Logo</a> uses a coloured background with the logo depicted in white. If you prefer a more traditional approach, you can customise the logo to depict the hills and sun in the colours of your choice.<b></b><i></i><u></u><sup></sup><br></p><h3>4. <a href="https://elements.envato.com/landscape-logo-JSEPMU">Landscape Logo</a><br>
</h3><figure class="post_image"><a href="https://elements.envato.com/landscape-logo-JSEPMU" rel="external" target="_blank"><img alt="Landscape Logo" data-src="https://cms-assets.tutsplus.com/uploads/users/1631/posts/32478/image/Elements-image2.jpg"></a><figcaption><a href="https://elements.envato.com/landscape-logo-JSEPMU" target="_self">Landscape Logo</a></figcaption></figure><p><a href="https://elements.envato.com/landscape-logo-JSEPMU">Landscape Logo</a> is a simple and stylish landscaping services logo that comes in eps and ai file formats. As the files are editable, it's easy to change the colour and text as needed. A help file is included in the download. <b></b><i></i><u></u><sup></sup><br></p><h3>5. <a href="https://elements.envato.com/nature-sky-logo-A6QBUD">Nature Sky Logo</a><br>
</h3><figure class="post_image"><a href="https://elements.envato.com/nature-sky-logo-A6QBUD" rel="external" target="_blank"><img alt="Nature Sky Logo" data-src="https://cms-assets.tutsplus.com/uploads/users/1631/posts/32478/image/Elements-image1.jpg"></a><figcaption><a href="https://elements.envato.com/nature-sky-logo-A6QBUD" target="_self">Nature Sky Logo</a></figcaption></figure><p><a href="https://elements.envato.com/nature-sky-logo-A6QBUD">Nature Sky Logo</a> takes an abstract approach to the theme of sun, sky and hills with the colours representing each of these elements within a diamond shape. <b></b><i></i><u></u><sup></sup><br></p><h2>Choose Your Own Landscape Logo Design </h2><p>That’s it for our list of 20 great landscaping logo design ideas from <a href="https://placeit.net/" rel="external" target="_blank">Placeit</a> and <a href="https://elements.envato.com/graphic-templates/logos/landscape">Envato Elements</a>. These are just a small selection of the hundreds of logo templates that are available, so if none of them quite fits your needs, there are plenty of other great options to choose from. Check these landscaping logo designs out, and let us know in the comments below if you’ve found the perfect logo for your company and which it is. We’d love to hear from you.<br></p>2019-01-07T12:55:31.000Z2019-01-07T12:55:31.000ZNona Blackmantag:computers.tutsplus.com,2005:PostPresenter/fsw-40400Setting Up a Hosted Email Solution With Microsoft Office 365<p>Last time in our series <em>Setting Up Your Business Online Without Coding</em>, I showed you <a href="http://freelanceswitch.com/start/hosted-email-with-google-apps/">how to set up a hosted email service with <em>Google Apps</em></a>, providing you with a custom Gmail service that uses your own domain name.</p>
<p>Google isn't the only player in the hosted email game and another software giant looking to provide you with a hosted solution is none other than Microsoft. In this part of our series, I'll show you how to set up Microsoft's <em>Office 365</em> service that provides a hosted email solution that proves an excellent alternative to <em>Google Apps</em>.</p>
<p></p>
<p><em>Before continuing, I'd recommend revisiting the previous article in this series, <a href="http://freelanceswitch.com/start/hosted-email-with-google-apps/">Setting Up a Hosted Email Solution With Google Apps</a>, where I discuss the benefits of setting up a hosted email service.</em></p>
<h2>How Office 365 Works</h2>
<blockquote><p>Google isn't the only player in the hosted email game... </p></blockquote>
<p>Unlike <em>Google Apps</em>, <em>Office 365</em> hasn't been around for very long, only being officially launched in June 2011. For most, it provides a competing set of services to Google's offering, providing hosted email and calendar solutions as well as online storage and even an online office suite, known as <strong>Office Web Apps</strong>. All of these services require paid subscriptions based upon the number of users, per month, just like Google. </p>
<p>What sets <em>Office 365</em> apart from <em>Google Apps</em> is the way some of these services work. With certain subscription plans, you not only receive access to the Office Web Apps but are also provided with a full copy of Microsoft Office for Windows or Mac for the duration of your subscription. For many freelancers and small businesses just starting out, this could save quite a lot of money since it would spread out the cost of the software along with the online services, instead of having to purchase Microsoft Office separately.</p>
<p>You may have already heard about this as both Microsoft and Adobe have shifted towards subscription-based software which, whilst generating polarising opinions, provides you with all updates and new versions so long as your subscription remains active.</p>
<p>Returning to the main focus of this article, <em>Office 365</em> offers <strong>Microsoft Exchange</strong> based hosted email. Exchange is one of the most popular mail platforms around, offering features such as push email and widespread compatibility. In fact, Google used to use this service, offering a facility known as <a href="http://www.google.com/sync/index.html">Google Sync</a> . What this allowed was for Gmail users to add their account as an <em>Exchange</em> account on devices such as iPhone and Windows Mobile, instead of a standard <em>IMAP</em> or <em>Gmail</em> setup, allowing for true push email when configured. </p>
<p>Google has removed this functionality and reserved it only for subscribers to <em>Google Apps for Business and Enterprise</em>. </p>
<ul>
<li>
<em>Office 365 Small Business</em> costs from <strong>$5 per user per month</strong> on their lowest service plan. This price point requires it paid annually but you can pay monthly for <strong>$6</strong> instead.</li>
<li>
<em>Office 365 for Small Businesses Premium</em> costs $12.50 per month, payable annually or $15 monthly.</li>
</ul>
<p>It's a little bit more than <em>Google Apps</em>, but at just $1 a month extra, it's really not much more. For the <em>Premium</em> subscription, you also receive a copy of Microsoft Office for Windows or Mac that you can run on up to 5 computers that you use. </p>
<p>You can compare all of the <em>Office 365</em> price plans at their <a href="http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/business/compare-office-365-for-business-plans-FX102918419.aspx">Microsoft Office 365 comparison page</a>.</p>
<h2>Google Apps and Office 365 Compared</h2>
<p>Overall, both services offer the same sort of functionality, but it's the way their functionality is implemented that sets them apart. </p>
<h3>1. Push Email</h3>
<p>As <em>Office 365</em> uses Microsoft Exchange, it can provide true push email facilities to devices that support Windows Mobile. <em>Google Apps for Business and Enterprise</em> plans do offer this functionality by setting up Google Sync which requires reconfiguring your Google account on your mobile device as <strong>Microsoft Exchange</strong>.</p>
<p>However, Google Sync only works on mobile devices so you'll not be able to have push email on your desktop computer. With most apps providing the ability to check for emails every minute, then it's not a feature that would be entirely missed, but <em>Office 365</em>'s Exchange platform still provides push.</p>
<h3>2. Email Structure</h3>
<p>Perhaps one of Gmail's most popular functions is it's incredible <strong>labels</strong> feature. Emails can be tagged with multiple labels and easily found, meaning that invoices could be tagged as both "to pay" and "invoices". With a more traditional email setup, we're limited to just folders for email organisation.</p>
<blockquote><p><em>Office 365</em> doesn't offer any such label functionality, instead it relies upon a traditional folder structure for filing messages away.</p></blockquote>
<p>Unfortunately, <em>labels</em> do have a downside. Unless you spend most of your time in the Gmail web app, on an Android device or within Google's official Gmail apps for iOS, managing labels can be a bit of a headache. So that Google can provide support for traditional email apps such as Apple Mail and Microsoft Outlook, it allows IMAP support. IMAP doesn't support labels and, instead, treats them as folders. This has the undesired effect of downloaded messages multiple times, meaning searching for messages can result in duplicate emails being shown. </p>
<p>Moreover, trying to file an email with labels within a standard email app can be tricky. There are Gmail-orientated apps out there such as <a href="http://airmailapp.info">Airmail</a> which offers a more Gmail-orientated workflow whilst still providing you with all the benefits of a desktop mail app.</p>
<p><em>Office 365</em> doesn't offer any such label functionality, instead it relies upon a traditional folder structure for filing messages away. If you're someone who spends most of their time within a desktop mail app, and would prefer to avoid the hassle of Gmail's label implementation, then <em>Office 365</em> might be the better choice.</p>
<p>I've used both services over the years and, for now at least, I've migrated to <em>Office 365</em> simply because I prefer to use my default mail apps and never really use labels. However, I wouldn't recommend one over the other simply because it all depends on how you will use it.</p>
<h2>Setting Up Office 365</h2>
<p>In order to use <em>Office 365</em>, you'll need to have the following:</p>
<ul>
<li>A domain name.</li>
<li>Access to your domain name settings (known as DNS records).</li>
<li>About 20 minutes of free time.</li>
</ul>
<p>Similar to <em>Google Apps</em>, there is a free 1-month trial of <em>Office 365</em> and the service I'll be configuring today is <em>Office 365 For Small Business</em>. </p>
<h3>Step 1: Sign Up for Office 365</h3>
<p>You can register for a free 1-month trial of <em>Office 365</em> at the <a href="http://office.microsoft.com/en-gb/try/">Office 365 Trial</a> page. You'll need to scroll down to find the business options. </p>
<p>Select <strong>Try Now</strong> and then complete the following registration form. </p>
<p>In the second part of the form, you'll be asked to enter your desired user ID. Once you enter the first part (your username), the company name is autofilled into the box next to it. </p>
<p>So we can be up and running straight away, Microsoft provide all users with a <em>companyname.onmicrosoft.com</em> address which can be replaced by a domain name at any time. </p>
<p>Once you've signed up, you'll be automatically logged into your new <em>Office 365</em> account, where you'll be prompted to enter a mobile number and confirm your backup email address in case you lose access to your account. </p>
<p>And with that, you're now registered for Microsoft <em>Office 365</em>! You can access your service at any time by visiting the <a href="https://portal.microsoftonline.com">Office 365 portal</a> and signing in with your account. </p>
<h3>Step 2: Configure for Email</h3>
<p>Now that we have a fully working <em>Office 365</em> service, it's time to configure it for email. Doing so will not only verify our domain name but also configure it to use for mail routing in one go, making it a little more straightforward than having to verify the domain name and <em>then</em> configure it for mail routing. </p>
<p>At the moment, we could simply use our <em>companyname.onmicrosoft.com</em> email address straight away, but since we're wanting a more professional email address anyway, let's just go ahead and set everything up now. </p>
<p>Within the <em>Office 365</em> portal, select the first option called <strong>email address</strong>. </p>
<p>You'll then be shown a screen entitled <em>Change your Office 365 email address to use@yourcompany.com</em>. </p>
<p>When you're ready, click on <strong>start now</strong> and enter your domain name that you wish to use with <em>Office 365</em>. </p>
<p>Select the options that best suit you with regards to existing email and website. I've selected that I've not been using email with this domain name before and that I <em>don't</em> have a website, even if you do. You'll find out why a little later on.</p>
<p>Once you've chosen your selected options, click <strong>next</strong>.</p>
<h2>Completing the Steps</h2>
<p>As you can see, Microsoft has provided me with multiple steps to complete:</p>
<ul>
<li>Confirm I own my domain name.</li>
<li>Update existing <em>Office 365</em> email addresses.</li>
<li>Add more users to my <em>Office 365</em> service plan.</li>
<li>Complete the process.</li>
</ul>
<p>We can perform all of these steps consecutively and can even start them straight away. Let's go through these step-by-step. </p>
<h3>Step 1. Confirm My Domain Name</h3>
<p>When you're ready, select <strong>start step 1</strong>.</p>
<p>You can select your domain registrar from the list or get the options manually. Similar to setting up <em>Google Apps</em>, selecting a registrar on the list provides step-by-step instructions to making the necessary changes. </p>
<p>Although my registrar, Godaddy, <em>is</em> on the list, for the purposes of this guide I'll be configuring the options manually. Select <strong>general instructions</strong> from the drop down menu and then click <strong>next</strong>.</p>
<p>Similar to <em>Google Apps</em>, verifying our domain name requires adding a <strong>DNS record</strong>. In a new tab or window, log in to your domain registrar and launch their <strong>DNS editor</strong>.</p>
<p>Microsoft provide two ways of verifying your domain name and either can be used. Unless you have a specific requirement, I would recommend just adding the <strong>TXT</strong> record. </p>
<p>We just need to add a new <strong>TXT</strong> record with the information Microsoft has provided us. Here's what it would look like when adding it to <em>Godaddy</em>.</p>
<p>It can take up to a few hours for the changes to take effect, depending on your domain registrar. I'd suggest waiting a few minutes after making and saving the changes, then attempting to verify. </p>
<p>Once Microsoft has verified your domain name, we can move on to the next step. Click <strong>finish</strong>.</p>
<h3>Step 2. Update Existing Email Addresses</h3>
<p>As the email address created when we registered used <em>@companyname.onmicrosoft.com</em>, <em>Office 365</em> will update this to our newly verified domain name. Simply confirm you wish to do so and that's all there is to it. </p>
<p>Now that we've changed our email address, we'll need to log back in. Enter your <em>new</em> email address and existing password (the one we specified when setting up the <em>Office 365</em> trial) and you'll be logged back in to the portal. </p>
<p>Don't worry that you might have to start the step-by-step guide again, we can carry on where we left off just by selecting the <strong>email address</strong> button again, which will have <em>2 of 4 steps completed</em> (written underneath).</p>
<h3>Step 3: Add Users</h3>
<p>At this stage, you can add more users if you wish. Remember, you will be paying per user per month for additional users once the trial expires. I'll be skipping this step as it will just be me using the service, for now. </p>
<h3>Step 4: Complete the Process</h3>
<p>Now that we have verified our domain name and updated our email settings, the final task is to configure how our mail is routed.</p>
<p>Every domain name has something called an <strong>MX Record</strong>. These records are basically a domain name or IP address of a particular mail server. So when an email is sent to <em>yourname@yourdomain.com</em>, the mail server sending the email looks at the domain name <em>yourdomain.com</em> to see what the mail server details are. Once it has them, the message is then passed to it, where it's then placed in the user's inbox. Without these records, email just doesn't function. </p>
<p>Here's where we're going to deviate slightly from the step-by-step guide. If you remember earlier in the article when we began the step-by-step guide and were asked if we had a website, I said "no". That was actually a lie as I'd previously set up a website with with Squarespace in a previous article in this series, <a href="http://freelanceswitch.com/start/online-setup-with-squarespace/">How to Set Up Your Online Business Presence With Squarespace</a>.</p>
<p><em>Office 365</em> prefers, if possible, to manage your entire domain name and that means being in control of your domain's DNS settings. Rather than adjusting your domain name's MX records, <em>Office 365</em> would prefer to manage your entire domain name and ask you change the <strong>name servers</strong>. What this means is that instead of going to your registrar to alter DNS settings, you'd do so within the <em>Office 365</em> portal.</p>
<p>Whilst this is meant for ease of use, I'd recommend avoiding this approach. There's actually nothing wrong with having your DNS managed by <em>Office 365</em> and, in some ways, it is more convenient. For me, I prefer to have my email, web hosting and DNS all managed separately. That way, if either my mail or web host go down then there's less chance of it having a knock-on effect on another service. Instead, we'll just do the same as we do with <em>Google Apps</em> and adjust the MX records manually. </p>
<p>Within the step-by-step guide, select <strong>save and close</strong> and, when you confirm this, you'll be back at the main portal screen. On the far right, select <strong>Manage your website and email domains</strong>.</p>
<p>Select your domain name from the list and then click where it says <strong>Verified</strong>. </p>
<p>It doesn't look like there's much information here but it's actually hidden from view. Click where it says <strong>DNS records created automatically by Office 365</strong> to reveal the information we need. </p>
<p>If you completed our <em>Google Apps</em> article then you'll know there were a number of MX records to configure. With <em>Office 365</em>, there's actually just one, but there are two more DNS records that we need, a <strong>TXT</strong> record and another called a <strong>CNAME</strong>. This lets us add our email address into many Exchange mail apps and it will automatically configure the settings appropriately, something that proves very useful. </p>
<p>Make a note of both the <strong>MX</strong> and <strong>CNAME</strong> labelled <strong>autodiscover</strong>, as well as the <strong>TXT</strong> record that starts <strong>v=spf1</strong>.</p>
<p>Add these three DNS records to your registrar's control panel and your mail routing configuration is set up and ready to go. </p>
<h2>Test Drive</h2>
<p>Now we've finished all our hard work, it's time to actually test our mail settings and see if they're all working. Remember that DNS settings can take time to update so if you find something doesn't work straight away, give it a little more time and try again. </p>
<p>Launch your preferred mail app, in my case it's Apple Mail, and use the following settings to log in:</p>
<ul>
<li>Account Type: <strong>Microsoft Exchange</strong>
</li>
<li>Username: <strong>Your email address</strong>
</li>
<li>Your Password: <strong>The password you have set</strong>
</li>
<li>Server: <strong>Your domain name</strong>
</li>
</ul>
<p>As we added an option for email apps to "autodiscover" our mail server settings, any Microsoft Exchange-compatible email app should notice this and automatically discover the correct settings. Without any further information, we have successfully added a new email account that will allow us to send and receive mail.</p>
<h2>Beyond Email</h2>
<p><em>Office 365</em> provides far more than just email and, as we touched upon before, includes features such as contacts and calendar syncing, in addition to online storage with their <em>SkyDrive</em> service.</p>
<h2>Wrapping Up</h2>
<p>Microsoft's <em>Office 365</em> provides a great alternative to <em>Google Apps</em> for those who would prefer to use an Exchange-based email service that offers similar features at a similar price. For users looking to purchase Microsoft Office at some point in the future who are also looking at hosted email, Microsoft <em>Office 365</em> provides a very tempting option that could save you money. </p>
<p>Whether you are a Google fan or prefer Microsoft's long-established Exchange platform, you'll not be disappointed with whichever provider you decide to go with. </p>
<h2>Further Reading</h2>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://office.microsoft.com/en-gb/products/?CTT=97">Office 365</a></li>
<li><a href="http://office.microsoft.com/en-gb/business/compare-office-365-for-business-plans-FX102918419.aspx">Compare Subscription Plans</a></li>
<li><a href="http://office.microsoft.com/en-gb/try/">Office 365 Trial</a></li>
</ul>2013-07-09T12:00:13.000Z2013-07-09T12:00:13.000ZJordan Merricktag:computers.tutsplus.com,2005:PostPresenter/fsw-40168Setting Up a Hosted Email Solution With Google Apps<p>Anyone who uses the internet on a regular basis will have an email address of some sort, with many of us using free email services such as Google Mail, Yahoo! Mail, Microsoft Outlook or Apple’s iCloud. </p>
<p>Whilst these services may be great, they’re not ideal for business use. Your email address will end with their own domain, such as <em>@gmail.com</em> or <em>@yahoo.com</em>. If you’re using an address like this and even have it displayed on business cards, it can look a bit unprofessional.</p>
<p>Continuing with our series <em>Setting Up Your Business Online Without Coding</em>, I’ll show you how to set up and configure a truly customizable hosted email solution with Google Apps, providing you with all the power of Gmail but with the flexibility of running your own email server.</p>
<p></p>
<h2>What Is Hosted Email?</h2>
<p>If you use <em>Gmail</em> or <em>Yahoo! Mail</em> then you’re already using this type of service. Hosted email is simply the term for any email provider that manages your emails for you.</p>
<p>Some larger companies prefer to handle and manage email themselves and will usually have their own in-house email servers and forms of redundancy that they can afford, as well as an IT department that can maintain them and troubleshoot any problems that may arise.</p>
<p>For freelancers and small businesses, buying servers and hiring IT staff just for the purposes of email would be extremely costly. Hosted mail services, such as <em>Google Apps</em> and Microsoft’s <em>Office 365</em> are solutions that go beyond their free offerings of <em>Gmail</em> or <em>Hotmail &amp; Outlook</em> and provide a paid-for alternative that gives businesses a way to effectively outsource their entire email infrastructure and avoid having to deal with it at all. Simply pay a monthly cost based upon the number of users and in return, you’re provided with a reliable and powerful email service.</p>
<h3>How Google Apps Works</h3>
<p><em>Google Apps</em> started back in 2006 and has flourished into a complete hosted business solution that provides many of the popular Google services that you can manage for you and your employees. It provides all the features and benefits of a standard Google account, with access to services such as Gmail and Google Calendar but all tied to your domain name. </p>
<p>The biggest feature that most freelancers and businesses use <em>Google Apps</em> for is their custom Gmail service. No longer will you have a <em>@gmail.com</em> address but one that properly reflects your domain name. It will be powered by <em>Gmail</em> so you still get all the added benefits, such as its legendary spam filtering.</p>
<p><em>Google Apps for Business</em> costs <strong>$5 user/month</strong> with no minimum user count or contract. If you’re a small business with 5 people working at your company that needed an account, you’d pay just $25 per month. Due to its low cost and popularity, many opt to use <em>Google Apps</em> simply for the email service and won’t necessarily use any of the other Google services at all. </p>
<h2>Why Go Hosted?</h2>
<p>There’s a number of reasons why paying for your email with services such as <em>Google Apps</em> is beneficial, especially to a freelancer or small business:</p>
<h3>1. Branding</h3>
<blockquote><p>It’s all about <strong>branding</strong> and having another company’s name for what is likely your primary form of communication can give the wrong impression.</p></blockquote>
<p>With any of the free services I previously mentioned, you simply pick a user name and you’ll be given an email address at the service’s domain name, such as <em>username@gmail.com</em>. For personal use this isn’t a problem, but if you’re a freelancer or small business, having an email address such as <em>freelancewebdesigner@yahoo.com</em> can seem somewhat unprofressional. </p>
<p>It’s all about <strong>branding</strong> and having another company’s name for what is likely your primary form of communication can give the wrong impression. It might seem extremely trivial but when it comes to marketing yourself and your business, put yourself in your client’s shoes. If <em>you</em> were looking for a web designer in London and their email address was <em>superawesomewebdesigner1@yahoo.com</em>, would you have any any hesitation? </p>
<p>Using hosted email services, you can use your own domain name to give your email addresses a much more professional appearance, especially when dealing with multiple employees, and switch to something like <em>jack@superawesomewebdesigner.co.uk</em>or <em>jill@superawesomewebdesigner.co.uk</em>.</p>
<h3>2. Reliability</h3>
<p>Hosted email service providers, such as Google, have racks of servers in multiple data centres around the world, providing rock-solid reliability. Should any single server, or even data centre, lose power or suffer some other form of downtime, there is (usually) no loss in service as all the other servers and locations will continue to work and process your email. This is additionally beneficial for the hosted email company as they can perform server upgrades and replacements without any impact to service.</p>
<blockquote><p>Hosted email service providers, such as Google, have racks of servers in multiple data centres around the world, providing rock-solid reliability.</p></blockquote>
<p>Compare this to running your own mail server in your office. Whilst you might think that it’s a better solution because you have complete control and it’s a singular cost of the server, it wouldn’t take much to knock your email out and any problems would have to be fixed by you.</p>
<p>You could suffer a power cut, loss of internet connection or worse, the server could suffer a fault. In each of these cases, your emails would stop working immediately.</p>
<h3>3. Ease Of Use</h3>
<p>Not only is setting up a hosted email service easy to do (as you’ll see shortly), but managing it is a piece of cake. There’s no mail server for you to upgrade or maintain which means there’s no unexpected costs, you simply pay for the users you have and the rest is managed by the service provider.</p>
<p>With all <em>Google Apps</em> accounts, you’re provided with a control panel that allows you to manage many aspects of how your email service works, giving you much more control than a free account.</p>
<h2>Setting Up Google Apps</h2>
<p>Now that we’ve explained how a hosted email service works with a bit more detail, it’s time to set one up. </p>
<p>In order to use a service such as <em>Google Apps</em>, you’ll need to have the following:</p>
<ul>
<li>a domain name</li>
<li>access to your domain name settings (known as DNS records)</li>
<li>about 20 minutes of free time</li>
</ul>
<p>A free trial of <em>Google Apps</em> is available, which is what we’ll be setting up today. That way, you can try the service to see if it suits your needs without having to pay a thing. </p>
<h3>Step 1. Sign Up to Google Apps</h3>
<p>Visit the <a href="https://www.google.com/enterprise/apps/business/">Google Apps for Business</a> page and click <em>Start Free Trial</em>. </p>
<p>You’ll be asked for some basic information, such as your name, current email address and a little bit about you or your business. </p>
<p>Once you’ve entered some basic information, Google will ask if you’d like to use your own domain name or, temporarily, use a <strong>mygbiz.com</strong> address. Let’s go ahead and tell Google we’d like to use our own domain name, so select that option and enter your domain name. </p>
<p>Next, we’re asked to create our first account. The first account on Google Apps is <em>always</em> the super administrator, the user who is able to make the most changes. Super administrators can make changes to the Google Apps service as well as reset passwords. Enter your desired username which will also be your email address and a strong password, preferably a mixture of letters, case, numbers and symbols. </p>
<p>Once your account is created, you’ll be able to log in with the credentials you just created. </p>
<p>For future reference, access to your Google Apps control panel can be found at <strong>http://google.com/a/yourdomain.com</strong>.</p>
<h3>Step 2. Verifying Your Domain</h3>
<p>Congratulations, you’ve just set up Google Apps! There’s a little bit of work left to do, but we’re making good progress. </p>
<p>The next step is to verify that you actually own the domain name you’ve asked to use. There are a number of ways we can do this but since we’re going to need to make some changes to your domain name anyway, I’ll show you the most popular method. </p>
<p>To allow Google to verify your domain ownership, we can add a small piece of information to your domain name called a <strong>TXT record</strong>. Google will automatically generate a random string of characters that you can add as this record and, once the changes have been updated, Google will check your domain name to see if what you have added is the same as what it asked you to add. If it is, you’ve verified your domain name! </p>
<p>As we’re now logged in to the Google control panel, click on <em>Start Setup</em>. </p>
<p>You’ll be prompted to verify your domain in order to activate Google Apps. Click <em>Verify Domain</em> and then then select <em>Begin verification</em>.</p>
<p>Google’s recommended method, adding a <em>TXT Record</em> is very straightfoward, especially as Google lists a large number of domain registrars that it provides step-by-step instructions for. Some registrars such as <a href="http://www.godaddy.com">GoDaddy</a> will provide an automatic method of doing this for you, just by entering your login details. Should you wish to do this manually or if your registrar isn’t listed, select <strong>Other</strong> at the bottom of the list. </p>
<p>Copy the text that’s displayed in the white box and then open up a new tab, logging in to your domain registrar. In this case, I’ll be demonstrating with Godaddy. </p>
<p>Within your domain registrar, select your domain name and then access the part of its site that will let you edit its <em>DNS records</em>.</p>
<p>Once you’ve found that, you’re going to want to add a new record, of the type <em>TXT</em>. </p>
<p>Add a new record and enter “@” for its <em>Name</em> (if required) and then paste in the long bit of text that we copied from the white box as its <em>Value</em>. Everything else can be left untouched, then save the changes. DNS record changes can take a little time but usually you’ll be able to verify the changes in about 20 minutes. Sometimes it can be anywhere up to 24 hours but usually it’s pretty instant.</p>
<p>Head back to <em>Google Apps</em> and, after about 15–20 minutes, click <em>Verify Domain</em>. If it works, you’ll get the following message.</p>
<p>If not, you’ll just need to wait a little longer. </p>
<h3>Step 3. Users</h3>
<p>If you’re going to need additional users, especially if you’re moving from an existing email service, then we can do so using the <strong>Users</strong> panel. To access it, select <em>Users</em> from the main group of icons. </p>
<p>Within <strong>Users</strong>, you’ll see a list of all current users, likely it will just be your own for now. To add another user, simply select the <em>Add users</em> button on the top-right to start the process. </p>
<p>There’s three different ways to add new users, depending on which method you prefer…</p>
<ul>
<li>Invite users by sending an email to their current email address and have them complete the process.</li>
<li>Add a user manually and assign them a specific username and password.</li>
<li>For adding large numbers of users, you can <a href="http://freelanceswitch.com/industry-tips/clean-up-data-in-a-csv-file/">add a CSV list</a>, formatted with all the usernames and passwords you want to use.</li>
</ul>
<p>I prefer adding users manually so you can enforce a specific naming convention, such as <em>first.last@yourdomain.com</em>. If you select this option, you’ll be able to add their full name, username and either a temporary password or a specific one that you enter.</p>
<p>Should you not want or need to add any other users, you don’t have to and you can add new users at any time. </p>
<h3>Step 4. Configuring Mail Routing</h3>
<p>Once your domain is verified, we can then start to configure using <em>Google Apps</em> as your mail provider. We’re going to need access to your DNS records again so make sure you’re logged in to your domain registrar in another tab. </p>
<p>This next stage is going to change how email is routed over the internet. Every domain name has something called an <strong>MX Record</strong>. These records are basically a domain name or IP address of a particular mail server. So when an email is sent to <em>yourname@yourdomain.com</em>, the mail server sending the email looks at the domain name <em>yourdomain.com</em> to see what the mail server details are. Once it has them, the message is then passed to it, where it’s then placed in the user’s inbox. Without these records, email just doesn’t function. </p>
<p>Head back to the main <em>Google Apps</em> control panel by clicking the <strong>Back to Dashboard</strong> button. </p>
<p>Click on <strong>Next Step</strong> and on the next page, select <strong>Set up Gmail</strong>. You’ll see a message confirming that you should add all the users who will be using your email service. Once your happy with the users you previously added (or if it’s just yourself) then click on <strong>Yes, let’s do it!</strong>.</p>
<p>You’ll be prompted to select whether you’d like to use Google’s servers or another server. Keep the default selection of Google’s server and then select <strong>Next</strong>.</p>
<p>Google will perform a quick check to see what your current <em>MX records</em> are, if any. As you can see, my domain name doesn’t have any so at the moment, I have no email functionality. </p>
<p>Just like with verifying our domain name, we can select from a long list of domain registrars with step-by-step instructions. Additionally, registrars such as GoDaddy also have automatic configuration of this if you follow the instructions. Again, just like before, let’s do this manually and select <strong>Other</strong>.</p>
<p>You’ll see 5 different MX records, each with a number referred to as <strong>Priority</strong>. This is how the email will be routed and when the domain name is checked to see where the email should go, the highest priority ones are attempted first. If for some reason that server doesn’t work, it will try the next in the list, and so on. We need to add all of these in order to complete our setup. </p>
<p>If you haven’t used your domain name for any email then you can simply delete any default MX records and then add the Google ones in their place, remembering to keep the priority numbers correct. If you’re prompted for a <em>host</em>, like GoDaddy does, you can simply enter “@” just like we did when we verified the domain with Google. </p>
<p>If you <em>have</em> been using your domain name for email previously then you need to be aware that as soon as the changes are made and updated, emails will start to go through Google’s servers. At that point, you’ll need to update your email settings to use the new Google servers. </p>
<p>And that’s it, you’ve now successfully configured Gmail for your domain. </p>
<h3>Step 5: Setting Up Your New Account</h3>
<p>So now we’ve set up <em>Google Apps</em> and <em>Gmail</em> services for our domain, it’s time to set up your preferred email app to take advantage of it. One of the advantages of <em>Google Apps</em> is that it uses the exact same settings as <em>Gmail</em>, the only difference being simply the username and password. </p>
<p>When adding a new account in OS X Mountain Lion, for example, we simply select the account type <em>Gmail</em> and then enter our full email address and password. </p>
<p>If you ever want to log in to the web interface, there’s nothing special you need to do there, either. Simply visit <a href="http://gmail.com">Gmail</a> and log in with your full email address and password. </p>
<h2>You Have New Mail!</h2>
<p>Congratulations, you’ve completely set up <em>Google Apps</em> as your mail provider! All incoming and outgoing mail is now completely managed by Google but there isn’t a single <em>@gmail.com</em> address in sight. Try sending yourself a test email to an alternative email address and then responding when you receive it, just to be sure everything is working correctly. </p>
<p>With this setup done, you’ll never need to do it again unless you change mail provider. Any new users you add that get an email address can simply sign in to the mail app of their choice and enter the standard <em>Gmail</em> settings, or select <em>Gmail</em> where appropriate. </p>
<h2>Beyond Email</h2>
<p><em>Google Apps</em> provides functionality far beyond the scope of this tutorial but a full list of features that Google Apps provides, check out the <a href="http://www.google.com/enterprise/apps/business/benefits.html">Google Apps Benefits</a> page.</p>
<p>You’ll likely find some of the additional features, such as <em>Google Calendar</em>, <em>Google Contacts</em> and <em>Google Drive</em> extremely useful if you have a number of co-workers and I strongly encourage you to take a look at many of the other services that you get for your money. </p>
<h2>Wrapping Up</h2>
<p><em>Google Apps</em> provides a complete hosted mail solution that combines all the advantages and rock-solid performance, reliability of <em>Gmail</em> with the professionalism of using your own domain name, and the power to manage your domain with more options than would otherwise be available. </p>
<p>Now that you’ve got your free trial going and your domain name is working for <em>Gmail</em>, why not take a look through the remainder of the control panel and see what else <em>Google Apps</em> might offer?</p>
<h2>Further Reading</h2>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.google.com/enterprise/apps/business/benefits.html">Google Apps - Benefits</a></li>
<li><a href="http://support.googleapps.com">Google Apps - Support</a></li>
<li><a href="http://learn.googleapps.com">Google Apps - Learning Center</a></li>
</ul>2013-07-03T12:00:00.000Z2013-07-03T12:00:00.000ZJordan Merrick